How to Get Managers to Love HR's Reward Practices

Even the best
reward practices can be undermined if managers lose respect for the system. A reward system needs to not only to be fair, efficient and reasonable, it needs to be seen as such. Given the emotions and technical complexity
associated with reward practices, this isn't easy!

Even the best run
pay systems have problems when managers or employees:

Feel they're underpaid, based on anecdotal information

Mistakenly think that job evaluation values the wrong
things

Think HR’s rigid rules are preventing them from
attracting, retaining or motivating talent

Think they're owed a meaningful pay raise every year

You can undoubtedly
add to this list of problems.

In all cases, these
misperceptions lead to dissatisfaction and pressure for HR to bend the rules to
accommodate a particular case.

Good reward
professionals know that dissatisfaction, however unjustified, undermines their
goal of attracting, retaining and motivating talent. They also know that bending the rules to
address a particular case can undermine the integrity of the whole system,
which creates justified dissatisfaction and inflated costs.

How NOT to respond to complaints
about your reward practices

When under pressure
to bend the rules there are two things HR should
not do:

Give in to the
manager so they can solve the particular problem

Tell the
manager they can't do what's requested because of the rules

Bending undermines
the integrity of the system; once you start making exceptions it's hard to
stop.

Hiding behind a
rule book undermines respect for the system. It implies bureaucratic rigidity, rather
than a focus on doing the right thing for the organization.

Solve the real problem

The best approach
is to treat requests to bend the rules as if the manager were saying: “I have a
business issue, help me solve it.”

If it's a business
issue, the place to start is not with the rules that govern pay.

Start by digging to
identify the real issue, then exploring solutions and determining the long-term
implications of any proposed actions.

With pay, often what
seems like the right thing in the short-run is harmful in the long-run. Once a
manager understands that, they'll have new respect for HR’s position—a good
start!

The real payoff
only comes when you help the manager find a workable solution. The solution may
not be perfect, but if the manager walks away feeling HR has helped them find a
path forward, and recognizing that the pay solution they originally had in mind
was untenable, then HR has done its job.

The importance of authority

You can and should
explain the technical element, for example how your pay policy is based on a
study of salary survey data.

However, you'll
also need to communicate that at certain points, decisions will come down to a
matter of judgment. This can be a tricky moment because it opens the door for
the manager to ask that their pay matter be ‘judged differently’.

It may seem like an
easy way out to them, but if HR judges differently for the people who complain
the loudest, then the system's integrity fails.

So HR must have two
elements in place beyond the technical solidity of the system:

Judgments must be made by respected people with authority
in the organization. A manager can disagree with the call, but will not
disagree with the authority’s right to make the call.

There needs to be some kind of appeal process. If a
manager feels a pay judgment was incorrect then they need to be able to make
their case. In a good system those appeals will often be denied because the
original decision was sound. But the appeal process needs to exist.

Sports fans will
understand how authority works. Referees work within a technical system of
rules, but sometimes have to make a judgment—and their judgment is accepted as
authoritative. In many sports there is a limited appeal procedure so those
judgments can be reviewed. It's an approach that works well for sports and will
work well for HR.

The importance of
education and nurturing relationships

When a manager has
a problem with compensation, you have their full attention; however their focus
is on solving a problem where they see you as a barrier. That's a tough time to
start building a relationship.

It's best to be
proactive and meet with managers to discuss compensation before problems arise.
Approach them ahead of time when you foresee issues, for example: “I see that
in a few years some of your people will be getting close to the maximum of the
salary range.”

This gives you a
chance to educate them about compensation issues before emotions come into play.
Remember while these meetings are about education, they're mostly about
building relationships.

The ‘engine’ of a talent management system frees HR from endless
administrative tasks so they have time to build relationships with managers.

Online learning can gently teach managers about why HR must fight to
maintain the integrity of the reward system.

While reward
professionals need to be good at the heads-down technical work, in the end, they
win or lose on their ability to build good working relationships with managers.

They have to be
tough and authoritative while being empathetic about the problems that managers
face. They need to be creative in finding solutions without appearing to be
willing to bend the rules at the first sign of pressure.

Rewards is one of
toughest jobs in HR—embrace the challenge.

Rewards is one of toughest jobs in HR—embrace the challenge: @dcreelman

Help Managers Love HR Rewards

Help Managers Love HR Rewards

By David Creelman

David Creelman is CEO of Creelman Research. If you are interested in helping your organization embrace the future of HR; whether it be by improving your capability in HR analytics or by learning to navigate the gig economy, then get in touch at dcreelman [at] creelmanresearch [dot] com or simply stay connected via LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/davidcreelman